WWE and had a court conference yesterday in regard to the lawsuit TNA has filed against over confidential information former employee Brian Wittenstein allegedly provided to WWE. As noted on PWInsider.com last week, the conference was requested by WWE, who told the court that the deadlines set by the court for expedited discovery put them into a position where "they will be unable to adequately prepare" themselves for a planned 6/11 hearing. WWE also claimed they would not be able to comply with the "without considerable inconvenience and expense".
At yesterday's hearing, WWE filed an affidavit showing they were compliant with the temporary restraining order the court filed against the company, forcing them to return, unaltered, any materials that had been provided to them by Wittenstein. Over the course of their statement, the timeline of how this lawsuit came to be became clear - with WWE naming who Wittenstein gave the information, when he was let go and when TNA was contacted.
According to WWE's statement, the company fired Wittenstein on 4/27 after they became aware that Wittenstein "had provided" WWE's John with a CD and a printout of confidential TNA information that Wittenstein had claimed he had from his time working for TNA. After being given the information, Laurinaitis informed WWE's in-house legal team about the matter. WWE noted that Wittenstein was specifically let go due to their concerns that he had "improperly obtained information" from his time employed with TNA and that Laurinaitis did not copy or keep the information.
WWE noted that when Wittenstein was advised he was being let go, WWE took back his company-issued laptop and blackberry. Subsequent searches handled by WWE's IT department showed no evidence that copies of the TNA material were on Wittenstein's computer or blackberry after WWE took possession of the material.
WWE also stated that searches of their email system and in-house servers showed no proof that Wittenstein had emailed the material to anyone else working for WWE. They noted that email boxes of 27 employees working in the and creative writing departments were searched. WWE claims that they only had the materials Wittenstein had physically handed the company, not additional copies held electronically on their network.
In their lawsuit filing, TNA had claimed that WWE waited several weeks before contacting them. WWE's timeline is a little different. In their filing yesterday, WWE stated that Wittenstein was let go on 4/27, "On or around" 5/3, WWE's General Counsel called TNA's Director of Talent Relations, Bruce to inform him of the situation. Prichard referred WWE to TNA's General Counsel, Crede Williams. WWE claimed messages were left several times for Crede between 5/4 and 5/7 before he returned their calls. When he did, Williams asked WWE to send the material to him. WWE did so via Express Mail on 5/8, TNA received the material on 5/9. The lawsuit was filed on 5/23.
WWE noted that after the lawsuit was filed, they again conducted a search of all their servers and files and again, none of the TNA material was found. WWE noted that due to the extensive searches they had conducted, TNA has a "lack of basis for believing WWE has any of their material" and that it would not be appropriate for TNA to be able to search the company's Microsoft Exchange Server due to their own concerns for WWE intellectual property landing in the hands of TNA personell.
WWE noted that searches of John Laurinaitis' email server account as well as his laptop turned up no evidence that he was still in possession of the material. They noted that while they could hand over the laptops and blackberries used by Witteinstein and John Laurinaitis, they are password protected and could not be opened by others outside of WWE.
WWE also stated that due to the sheer size of their servers, (they have six working together) it would be physically impossible to transport them to Nashville to be examined.
So where does this all leave the case? The court noted that due to WWE having tours set up before the lawsuit was filed, the planned 6/11 hearing was being continued indefinetly to allow the two sides to work out their scheduling when it comes to the Discovery process of the lawsuit, including WWE's claims that they don't have any of TNA's material. The two sides will have to report to the court as they make headway.In the case of Wittenstein vs. TNA, there are no changes.
It was noted that Wittenstein still has yet to be officially served with the lawsuit, although TNA has been in contact with a lawyer that is representing Wittenstein. The restraining order against him, demanding that Wittenstein return all confidential TNA materials as is and to not alter or destroy them was held up. There will be a new hearing on 7/12 for Wittenstein regarding the restraining order. He has until 6/11 to file opposition or ask for an extension in time.
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